About this listing

Casa Tordesillas is a mountain retreat, high on the ridges of the Coastal Range on the Pacific south west of Costa Rica.
Our way of life is based on organic garden, solar energies, reforestation, art&crafts, horses and holistic health practices

Marga´s and Chema´s home is a large elegant two storied round building with a geodesic dome on top for holistic practices. Large living room with fire place. Private bathrooms in every bedroom. Dining room with forest and ocean view from 1000 m above sea level. No grid connection, solar panels, rooms with candle light. Spring water from the property.

With over 25 years experience in sustainable practices, have been able to maintain a harmonious balance between the sorrounding forest and human presence. It is a large biological farm with organic garden and fruit trees. The horses are a breed cross between spanish andalusian and costarican Paso Fino.

The many rivers, brooks, waterfalls and natural swimming pools in the area, besides several nature trails through the forest; gives the naturalist a sample of this tropical land. In top of all this, the breath taking views over the rolling valles and down to the coast line.

One can also participate in voluntary hands on sustainable practices, which are Margas and Chemas way of life. Some of these practices are biological gardening, reforestation, different crafts and horse care.

So, what is a sustainable way of life? It is a friendly relationship with nature, where the "cost of living" is directly related to minimizing environmental impact; where a true economy is based in minimizing waste and being frugal. Reciclying, craftmanship, growing your own food and avoiding consumerism.

Breakfast and afternoon homemade pastries are included with your stay, other meals are available with an adittional cost. Please let us know if you like to have this service prior to your arrival. All additional services are payed in cash.

There is a public bus every day (except Sundays) to a nearby village 3 kms from Casa Tordesillas. Local taxis are available upon request.

For more than 2 persons, please contact us for special prices
The whole villa is also available, with room up to 20 people

You can also check availability of rooms 1-2 in case this one is already booked
http://www.airbnb.com/rooms/128092
Or room 5: http://www.airbnb.com/rooms/290050

Guest Access

The whole villa and the farm with the sorrounding forests and waterfalls are accessible for the guests

Interaction with Guests

The guest become part of our home and the interaction is at a family level

The Neighborhood

Our nearest neighbors is the village, 3 kms away.

Getting Around

There are daily public buses to the nearby village 3 kms away. (except Sundays)
Also one can hire a local taxi upon request.

Other Things to Note

Breakfast and afternoon home made paistries are included with your stay, other meals are available at an extra cost. Please let us know if you would like this service prior to your arrival. All additional services are payed in cash.

If a car rental is your option, make shure it is a 4X4
Also, since we are located in a wilderness area and the rural roads to our place are a bit of a maze, make shure you contact us so as to give proper directions and arrive before sunset.

11 Reviews

This place is great. It's very minimalist, rustic, and has down right gorgeous views. This is not a place meant for luxury living, but it's certainly never uncomfortable. Rooms are lot by candle light only, but each room has a private bathroom with hot water. The beds are okay, but not great. I don't fit on them at all either because I'm 6'4". The hosts were great. I got along with Chema very well, he's sort of this very philosophical and well educated ex hippie, with tons of stories and great conversation. Marga is an expert cook, and cooked us (by request) a bunch of fantastic vegetarian meals. If there aren't too many other guests, they will accompany you for dinner and hang out for a bit after, a cool experience.

One note: be prepared to pay for your meals. It is stated somewhere in the listing I think, but don't overlook it. It will cost you about $10 American per person for meals, and they only remind you right before you leave so make sure you get appropriate funds before hand.

Also, Chema is very proud of his horses, (but not unjustly so) which he trained by hand, and cares for daily. If you want to ride them, be prepared to pay as much as you would in the states, $60 per person.

Overall this experience was great, and very inspiring for me. I felt a spiritual connection to Chema and Marga, and I appreciated what they were about and what they have achieved. I would live to come back and stay with them, maybe help out with their sustainability school.

We spent 3 great days at Casa Tordesillas. Chema and Marga were exceptional hosts who made us feel welcome and at home. The accomodations were comfortable and met our needs. There were many highlights to our stay. The views were breathtaking, peaceful and full of wildlife. There is plenty of trails with varying degrees of difficulty, one of which brought us to a nice waterfall. The creme de la creme of the stay was Marga's delicious and healthy meals. It was a treat to see what she would make next.
We would also like to thank Chema for his time and willingness to share his vast knowledge of history, life and his passion for living a sustainable way of life. This was definitely a bonus to our overall experience.
Thank You!
Catherine & Milton

Thank you Catherine, we are so happy that you enjoyed your stay with us. It is always fun to meet new people and to share with them a few days and just as fun to know that their stay was pleasant.
It is our pleasure to share our way of life and to keep company with people interested in our proccess.
It was also a pleasure and enjoyment to know about you and where you live.
Wish that we would meet some other time.

This is not just a place to sleep and eat. This is not just a bed and breakfast. This a place with view and ideas that are breathtaking and mindexpanding. Loved that the sky enters the room, was taken by the beauty of the sunrise, appriciated how the hosts Chema and Marga are personal and caring. Was inspired by the stay, the way of life, the talks, the nature and horses, the pace. So this is much more than bed and breakfast, but we VERY much liked both the bed and especially the food, which did us so good. Thank you for an unordinary stay, which stays with us after the last star and the last piece of Margas lovely cacao cake.

That was the great place to celebrate a new year - silent and magnificent. The whole experience, including horse riding and talking with Chema was great and valuable. Also, he arranged a tour in uvita for as and recommended a place to stay in other places, which saved us a lot
Of money and (website hidden) and food was the best in the whole Costa Rica. Thank you, Chema and Marga

I loved my stay at Chema y Marga! They are both very kind. Marga cooks so good…that is incredible! Chema knows a lot about the forest and renewable energy! The house is wonderful…If you have a chance to go there take it!

Chema and Marga are wonderful people!
It was quite a trek to get to their home but don't get me wrong, this was part of the adventure and the appeal for us. Marga met us at the bus stop and we took a taxi the remainder of the way to their beautiful home. It was cozy, intelligently constructed and we felt removed from social, environmental & technological pollution. It was a breath of fresh air (literally and metaphorically).

Chema took care of the large and small details of our trip: he was extremely responsive and when I asked a question twice he was so patient! He helped us arrange our taxi pick up, helped us pre-purchase bus tickets, arranged our cabin at the beach in Ovida, and gave us great recommendations on how to spend our time. Chema is an encyclopedia! He is extremely intelligent and enlightened!

Marga made us clean and delicious meals! The chicken was fresh, her keel salad was scrumptious and her lasagna was unbelievable. On our plane ride back to Toronto, Rafal and I voted her lasagna as our favorite meal for the 2 weeks we were away in Dallas and Costa Rica! Marga's energy is lovely and once she opens up, you realize how intelligent and wise she is.

Our rooms were comfortable and we enjoyed the fresh air when we opened our windows. We enjoyed the candle light, it was peaceful and charming. Even their dogs had amazing energies :) The fireplace was peaceful and well received with the combination of cool mountain air.

We highly recommend staying with Chema and Marga, and suggest spending at least 2 nights as its a trek getting there. We also recommend the hike to Ovida and staying at Five Senses cabin by the beach (all recommendations from Chema). Thank you so much for taking such good care of us Chema and Marga, we felt we had great parents watching out for us!

Just be sure to confirm the price on airbnb as they (Airbnb) made an error, and we were lucky to have enough US on hand to pay the difference.

Thank you Shivon,
We are so glad that you had such a good time, also, it was a pleasure to meet you and it was a shame that the time was so short. Hope you can come back and stay longer. The next time we can show you Ventanas beach, with its caves and shooting jet streams and maybe do some more hiking through the coastal ridges.

About the Host, Chema Y Marga

We are native from Madrid, Spain. Residing in Costa Rica since 1976, following a sustanable way of life. We offer holistic health and sustainable practices seminars. We also offer horse back riding for experienced riders and nature hikes through the tropical forest and to the local waterfalls and pools.
For us to have a guest is a way to share our way of life, to promote a sustainable life and to make friends.
Our main object is two fold, first is to simplify our way of life by practicing sustainable techniques and regenerative activities; second is to be minimizing our impact on the planet, that is, that our ecological footprint would be less and as we see it, is about quality of life instead of standard of living.
"You are not necessarily richer by how much you have, but perhaps, by how little you need"